Garment hanger



G. MORTON GARMENT HANGER Dec. 19, 1961 Filed July 25, 1959 m M WE m MW J M United States Patent 3,013,706 GARMENT HANGER George Morton, Sharon, Mass, assignor to Century Sportswear (30., inc, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed July 23, 1959, Ser. No. 829,014 1 Claim. (Ci. 223--96) This invention is directed to garment hangers and relates more particularly to a novel garment hanger of the clamp type which is especially useful for hanging skirts or trousers.

An object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger of the clamp type which will provide a substantially uninterrupted support extending throughout almost the entire width of the garment so that a garment, supported by the hanger, will be gripped without wrinkling and will not sag between spaced gripping points. Another object of this invention is to provide a hanger on which a garment can be hung or from which a garment can be removed with speed and convenience and without risk of tearing the garment.

Further objects of this invention are to provide a garment hanger which will occupy a minimum of space on a hanger rod, and which will be devoid of enclosedloop portions such as might become entangled with other hangers suspended from the same hanger rod. Additional objects of this invention are to provide a hanger which can be easily engaged over a hanger rod whereby a number of hangers can be fitted over the hanger rod at the same time to provide a hanger which can be removed from a hanger rod without substantially elevating the garment supported by the hanger, whereby a hanger-supported garment can be removed from a rack and from among a number of tightly-packed garments without pulling the garment from its hanger; and to provide such a garment hanger which can be manufactured inexpensively.

The hanger according to the present invention comprises a pair of horizontal elongate clamping members forming integral parts of a single length of wire, said clamping members being normally disposed in substantially parallel side by side relation, the clamping members being integrally joined at one end by a spiral coil of the wire which tends resiliently to hold said clamping members close together in parallel relation. At the opposite end of the hanger, that is, the end remote from the spiral coil, each of the clamping members has an integral extension directed upwardly and inwardly, one of these extensions terminating in a hook designed to embrace a supporting rod when the hanger is in use, the hook being located above the mid-portions of the horizontal clamping members. The other extension is shorter than the one which terminates in the hook, the two extensions being normally parallel and closely adjacent and the free end of the shorter extension being permanently secured to the other extension. An annular slider, for example, a short close coil of wire, embraces both of said extensions and is movable along said extensions from an upper position to a lower position. When in its upper position, the slider permits the clamping members to be separated or diverged from their united ends for the insertion of a garment between them. The slider can then be moved to its lower position, thus drawing the clamping members together so as to grip the garment firmly.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description of a preferred embodiment, and by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the empty hanger;

FIG. 2 is a section, to somewhat larger scale, on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section to larger scale on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

- FIG. 5 is a plan view of the empty hanger; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevation showing the hanger suspended from a supporting rod and supporting a skirtthe skirt being indicated in broken lines.

Referring to the drawings, the character B (FIGS. 1 and 2) indicates the garment hanger according to the present invention. This hanger includes a pair of elongate substantially rectilinear, horizontal clamping members or rods 1 and 111, respectively, forming integral portions of a length of stifi ly resilient wire, forexample, steel wire of the order of 11 gauge. Preferably, the wire should be galvanized, or otherwise made rust-resistant.

and closely adjacent, are united at one end of the hanger by an integral spiral coil 2. This coil, as shown in FIG. 5, serves as a torque spring tending to hold the clamping rods close together, although permitting their opposite ends to be sprung apart. The coil 2 is tightly wound so as practically to eliminate the possibility of the enclosed loop of the coil from becoming entangled with other parts. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5, the axis of this coil is preferably inclined to the horizontal.

Each of the clamping rods 1 and 1a (at the opposite end of the hanger, that is, the end which is remote from the coil 2) comprises a part 3 (FIGS. 1 and 6), which extends downwardly and merges with a horizontal part 3a. This configuration of the clamping members reduces tendency of the members to sag toward the coil 2 whena garment is supported by the hanger.

Each clamping rod 1 and 1a, comprises an integral extension 4 and 4a respectively which inclines upwardly and inwardly from the parts 3 at an acute angle, preferably of the order of 42. The upper single ply potion C of the extension 4a integrally joins the shank S of a suspension hook 7 whose tip T forms one terminus of the length of wire. The hook 7 is located above the midportions of the clamping members 1 and 1a. The other extension 4 also'inclines upwardly and inwardly, parallel to the extension 4a, but is shorter than the latter and its free end is secured to the extension 4a at a point below the lower part of the suspension hook 7. As shown in FIG. 4, the extension 4 is united to the extension 4a by means of a conventional cable twisting of the wire, although any suitable means of uniting the parts would be within the scope of the invention.

An annular slider 6, preferably made of the same kind of wire which forms the body of the hanger and which is in the form of a close coil, is slipped over the extensions 4 and 4a before they are united at the point 5. This slider is movable along the extensions 4 and 4a, embracing both of these members, one position being indicated, for example, in FIG. 1 and a lower or operative position in FIG. 6. When the slider 6 is in the uppermost position, the clamping members 1 and it: may be separated by springing their end portions 3 apart in opposition to the bias of the spring coil 2, so that the hem, margin or waist-band of a garment S, as illustrated in FIG. 6, may he slipped horizontally between them, the garment S, here shown as a skirt, having almost the entire length of the waist-band H interposed between the clamping members 1 and 1a. However, the hanger is also useful for supporting trousers or other garments. After the garment material has been interposed between the clamping members 1 and 1a, the slider 6 is moved downwardly along the inclined extensions 4 and 4a to the position shown in FIG. 6, thereby drawing the horizontal members 1 and 1a together so that they grip the garment S, with- These clamping members 1 and 1a, which are normally parallel out wrinkling the garment, and provide support for the garment throughout almost its entire width. Thus the garment will not sag between spaced gripping points as commonly occurs when hangers of certain prior types are employed. It may be noted that in the construction here illustrated the hanger has no sharp or exposed ends which might tear or otherwise injure a garment supported by the hanger. Moreover the hanger will support garments of various thicknesses, since the-slider 6 can be moved down the inclined extensions 4 and 4a to greater or lesser distances, thus varying the degree of resilient pressure with which the clamping members are drawn together. The natural resilience of the garment material gripped by the hanger provides a constantly acting force urging the clamping members apart and thus eifectively prevents the slider 6 from accidentally retracting from its selected position. Since, as shown in FIG. 1, the single ply length C of the wire constitutes the only connection between the hook and the remainder of the hanger, the space X between the hook tip T and the clamping jaws 1 and 1a is open and unobstructed, greatly facilitating the introduction of the loaded hanger between closely spaced garments on hangers suspended from the rod R.

It may be noted, particularly from inspection of FIGS. 2 and 5, that the hanger is very narrow transversely so that it occupies a minimum of space when mounted on a supporting rod, such as the rod R (FIG. 6), the suspension hook itself consisting of but a single thickness of the wire. In fact, its maximum transverse width does not substantially exceed four times the diameter of the wire. Because of the small transverse thickness of the hanger, it is possible to suspend a larger number of hangers upon the rod R than is possible when customary hangers of substantial transverse thickness are employed. When it is desired to remove the hanger from the rod R without lifting the garment S, as is desirable for example, when a large number of garments are tightly packed together, the selected garment, gripped between the rods 1 and in, may be held with one hand while the extensions 4 and 4a of the hanger and the hook 6 are swung upwardly sulficiently to disengage the hook from the rod R. Similarly, if it be desired to suspend a plurality of hangers simultaneously over the rod R, their hooks, even though they may not all be accurately aligned, may readily be placed over the rod R because of the resiliency of parts 4 and 4a and because of the free and open space between the clamping rods 1 and 1a and the hook 7, it being noted that the horizontal clamping rods and the upwardly inclined extensions define, in effect, two sides of a triangle whose opposite side is fully open.

Since the axis of the coil 2 is inclined to the horizontal, the united ends of the clamping rods do not form a closure in the plane of the clamping rods and thus the garment S can project at opposite ends of the clamping rods without interference from the coil.

It should be understood that although a particular embodiment of the hanger is here described for purposes of illustration, the invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A garment hanger comprising a pair of elongate, smooth, substantially straight, horizontal clamping rods, normally disposed parallel and in side-by-side relation, said rods being integral portions of a single length of smooth wire and being integrally joined at one end by a spiral spring coil of the same length of wire and which tends to hold said rods closely adjacent to each other, the maximum transverse thickness of the hanger not substantially exceeding four times the diameter of the wire whereby garments carried by such hangers, suspended from a fixed horizontal bar, may be packed closely together, each of said horizontal rods, at that end which is remote from the spring coil, having a downwardly inclined portion which merges with a short horizontal portion which, in turn, merges with an upwardly directed extension which is inclined inwardly at an acute angle to the horizontal, the two extensions being substantially parallel and closely adjacent to each other, each extension being located directly above a corresponding one of said horizontal rods, one of said extensions terminating in a downwardly open suspension hook consisting of a single thickness of the wire and which is located above the mid-lengths of the horizontal rods, the other of said extensions being shorter than the hooked extension and terminating at a distance below the lower part of the hook, and having its end permanently secured to the hooked extension at a point spaced from the hook, an annular slider which embraces both of said extensions and which is movable from an upper position such that it permits separation of those ends of the horizontal rods which are remote from the spring coil, so that they may receive between them the margin of a garment, and a lower clamping position where the slider holds the horizontal rods in garment-gripping position, the connection of the extensions with the horizontal rods being such as to permit the hook to be moved up out of engagement with a supporting bar without lifting the horizontal rods or necessitating the removal of a garment gripped between said horizontal rods.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 663,264 Farnham Dec. 4, 1900 783,175 Cassidy Feb. 21, 1905 1,890,370 DeFalco Dec. 6, 1932 2,214,536 Nelson Sept. 10, 1940 2,727,662 Maloof Dec. 20, 1955 2,776,789 Olpe Jan. 8, 1957 

